Wrestlers Don`t Fake Out Jury

With wrestling growing in popularity, the question is often raised as to how much of it is faked.

It`s generally accepted that the outcome of most matches is decided in advance. And much of the violence and suffering and pain is feigned.

But one thing I`m convinced is truly sincere, spontaneous and genuine.

That would be the thuggish behavior and loathsome personalities of the wrestlers who take the roles of villains.

Any thought that they are merely acting should be dispelled by a recent trial that was held in the pleasant Wisconsin city of Waukesha.

The defendants in the trial were two well-known professional wrestlers, Kenneth Patera and Masanori Saito.

These two large creatures perform regularly as tag team partners. And, as villainous types, they do all the usual dirty things that bring such delight to wrestling audiences.

Last year they happened to be staying overnight in Waukesha. They had wrestled in a nearby town and returned to their motel.

Being huge fellows, they were hungry, so Patera walked over to a McDonald`s. It was closed, but an employee was still inside. Patera shouted that he wanted to buy some food. The employee said no, they were closed.

So Patera swore and threw a 30-pound rock through the window. This was simple enough for him to do, since he used to be a collegiate shot put champion and was an internationally ranked weight lifter.

The police were called and went to the motel room to find Patera. Instead, Saito answered the knock.

Saito, a native of Japan, speaks little English, but he knew enough to tell the two cops to bug off. Then he threatened to butt them with his head. When they didn`t leave, he shoved one of them.

Suddenly the door flew open, and out leaped Patera.

I won`t describe all the violence, but here are a few highlights.

Patera and Saito took turns lifting and throwing one of the cops against a wall.

To fully appreciate their nastiness, consider that the cop`s name is Jacalyn Hibbard, and she is a pretty young female who had only been on the force a few months.

After throwing her against the wall like a rag doll, one of them did a knee drop on the back of her neck.

That was all she remembered until she awoke in a hospital. Seven of her teeth had been broken, her face was a general mess, she was covered with bruises and had blurred vision.

But compared with her partner, she was in pretty good shape.

The other cop, John Dillon, tried spraying Saito in the face with a can of Mace. Saito just sniffed appreciatively and bashed him.

Patera flung aside the unconscious Miss Hibbard, whom he had been ramming into a wall, and joined Saito in mauling Dillon.

They jumped on him and twisted various limbs, as they do for the pleasure of TV viewers, and Dillon heard a lot of snaps, crackles and pops.

The sounds were coming from one of his legs, which was broken, and from several of his teeth, which were also broken.

He finally managed to pull his gun, and he told Patera that if he took one more step, he would shoot.

Patera looked at him in a puzzled way and asked: ``You`d really shoot me?``

Fortunately for the wrestlers, they weren`t in Chicago, New York or Detroit, where the cops are less tolerant than those in Waukesha.

Other officers arrived, and Patera calmed down. But they had to club Saito, who was still angry (probably because he was still hungry) before he would stop trying to break their legs.

A jury heard the facts last week and listened to a lot of big names from the wrestling world testify about the good character of both men. It is to the jurors` credit that they didn`t laugh out loud.

Then they brought in a guilty verdict on a variety of felonies.

And later this week the wrestlers will be sentenced. Saito could get 15 years in prison. Patera could get 10.

Their lawyer even got in trouble. When the jury came in with the verdict, the lawyer and the two wrestlers weren`t in the courtroom. They didn`t show up for more than an hour. It turned out that they were out on the courthouse lawn, swilling beer, so the judge fined the lawyer $250.

Anyway, if you are fans of Mr. Patera or Mr. Saito, it looks like you will have to do without their talents for a while.